Saturday, September 26, 2015

We've been to this venue before and it never disappoints. Several years back, probably 2011, we had an epic mud race on day 1. It was fast soupy mud. The following day was peanut butter mud which totally sucked, I was happy when the mud broke my bike on day 2 and I had to quit but that soupy Saturday race was awesome. I had the fitness and Mother Nature provided the primo cx elements.

Today was hot and sunny with no mud to be found.

The team was out in force at 7:30 am, setting up the course and doing our best to help realize Brittons vision.

My warm up was limited but I felt okay on the line. Probably 12 racers. I think I basically stayed in contact with the group thru one lap and by the end I finished in front of a couple folks. It felt like it was getting easier to push a bigger gear as the race went on so that was encouraging. Last week at Buffalo Bill I got lapped by maybe 4 folks and it happened pretty early. This week I only got lapped by 2. Micah and then Britton. Britton barely lapped me and I gave it just about everything to stay in front of him.

The course was awesome. There are a ton of options out there and Britton made the most of them.

Looking forward to tomorrow. Feel like a decent warmup would lead to a better race.

Monday, September 21, 2015

The first race was Sunday, yesterday, Buffalo Bill's CX in Leavenworth, KS.

I went. It was Hilly.

I've been pretty focused on cross for most of the year. With our son being born last December i figured i could sit out until CX but use that time to figure out my new life and how to train around it.

After one cx race it remains to be seen how well i accomplished the training part but im guessing i didn't do too well. The likely truth is that I simply don't have the time, talent or discipline to train hard enough to be competitive as a cat 2. But we're only one race in...

Race day:

I had to drop Aubree off at The Renaissance Festival and so arrived later than i would have liked. Warmed up for 25 minutes including one pre lap. The course was extremely hilly and i was glad i had grippy tires for the fast downhill corners.

It was a 1/2/3 race and we all started together. 18 starters. I was in the second row and when the whistle blew, Vince, who was in the first row, swerved way right after apparently missing his pedal so i had to come to almost a complete stop. I felt someone hit my rear wheel and then heard them go down. After I got going again i looked back to see that it was our teammate Jon Sink who fell.

Crash-o vita in the house!

So now im pedaling but am in next to last. By the end of the race i managed to get around and finish in front three more folks. I was in front of a few more but lost one or two places in the last lap, it was tough to tell because i was getting lapped plus i don't recognize that many people yet.

I actually felt good, which is mildly depressing, knowing that my good is pretty bad.

So this was the first race. My goal for the season is to be a legit cat 2 on a local level. Basically look like i belong there. On Sunday i got beat by 8 cat 3's.